Sixty-two new scholarship recipients have been selected and will receive the program's benefits starting in April 2023.
The Indigenous Program for Student Retention and Opportunities at the University – PIPOU – is making public today, Friday, March 24, 2023, the final results of the selection process for the 2022-2023 Call for Proposals. Sixty-two new scholarship recipients were selected who, starting in April, will receive a monthly financial aid of 1,000 reais, a laptop computer, and will also participate in the initiative's extracurricular and pedagogical training activities.
Click here to access the list of those selected in the 2022-2023 Call for Proposals.
The PIPOU program aims to contribute to the successful retention of Indigenous students in higher education in order to overcome the numerous difficulties they face, such as lack of financial resources, absence of academic support, pedagogical challenges in studying subjects, among others. These obstacles are factors that increase the rate of students dropping out of a degree program. The program's first call for applications was launched in 2021 as a pilot initiative and was specifically directed towards five Indigenous peoples/territories with which Vale maintains a relationship. Notice 2022-2023 It expanded the number of places for students from other countries in Brazil, provided they are enrolled in one of the 27 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) listed in Annex 1 of the notice.
The selection process and the profile of those selected.
The main requirements to apply for this grant were: being an Indigenous undergraduate student; having entered the program in 2021 or 2022; being enrolled in one of the 27 listed Higher Education Institutions; not having an employment contract; and being in their first undergraduate degree. Of the 62 scholarships offered, 18 were allocated to Indigenous peoples with whom Vale has relationships. The new scholarship recipients join the 38 already in the program, totaling 100 students benefiting from PIPOU.
According to the announcement, the selection process consisted of three stages. The first stage involved analyzing the documentation submitted for registration approval; the second stage involved analyzing the essays presented during registration; and the third stage was an interview. The final two stages examined, respectively, the student's life trajectory up to university admission and their involvement with their undergraduate course and their people/community.
Women represent the majority of those admitted, at approximately 60%. There is a great diversity of Indigenous peoples represented by these selected individuals, including: Kariri-Xokó, Tukano, Kayapó, Desana, Gavião, Marubo, Baré, Potiguara, Munduruku, Wai-Wai, Arapium, Pankararu, Terena, Galibi-Marworno, and Tikuna. The 62 students are academics from 16 higher education institutions from the north to the south of the country, and are enrolled in courses such as: Medicine, Pharmacy, Social Sciences, Intercultural Education, Environmental Management, Psychology, Literature, Geography, Nursing, Law, Natural Sciences, History, Political Science, Network and Communication Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Rural Education, Agronomy, among others.
According to João Guilherme Nunes Cruz, coordinator of the Indigenous Peoples Program at ISPN, the selection process demonstrated the importance of retention initiatives like PIPOU. “The need is great, and although we cannot accommodate everyone who applied, we hope that the contribution of these new students will make a difference in their academic journeys so that in the future they will be better prepared to fight for the improvement of the quality of life in their communities,” stated the coordinator.
Learn more about PIPOU
The PIPOU program, a result of the partnership between ISPN and Vale, structures its management through a Board composed of two representatives from the Brazilian indigenous movement, two professors from public universities, two representatives of indigenous students, two representatives from ISPN, and two representatives from Vale. The technical execution of the program is the responsibility of ISPN, which coordinates all the involved parties to ensure the successful implementation of the initiative. In addition to financial resources and computers, extracurricular and pedagogical activities offer a complement to the academic and political training of the scholarship recipients as young indigenous leaders. Among these are the Conversation Circles, which take place monthly via an online platform. On these occasions, important figures from the indigenous movement and Brazilian indigenism are invited to address topics relevant to the cause. [List of speakers who have participated in the Conversation Circles would follow here]. Rita Potyguara, Ailton krenak, Albert Terena, Gersem Baniwa, Felipe Tuxa, Kleber Karipuna e Braulina Baniwa.
Service
Announcement of the list of selected candidates for the 2022-2023 PIPOU Program.